Ovens are household and/or industrial appliances that are well known and essential in preparing food. Both discrete ovens, those consisting essentially of a cooking cavity, and ovens combined with cooktops, that is, ranges incorporating one or more burners combined with an oven, the latter generally positioned beneath the cooktop, are known.
The cooking cavity of an oven is generally parallelepiped-shaped, having 5 fixed walls and on one side a removable wall, such as a door, through which access is gained to the inside of the cavity. The walls may also include thermal insulation to prevent the heat generated within the cavity from dissipating, as well as an aperture through which the gas and heat generated within the cavity can escape to offset the internal temperature and pressure.
Various sources of radiation may be used to generate heat within the oven cavity or directly on the food, including, but not limited to, gas burners, electrical resistors, microwave generation, heated steam, etc. A combination of more than one source of heat may also be used in a single oven, such as a gas oven with a heating resistor, a microwave oven with a heating resistor, etc.
Ovens may include one or more inner shelves serving both to support the food during cooking and to adjust the height of the food within the oven.
Numerous embodiments of oven shelves, generally consisting of metal wire forming a grill, are known to the art.
Oven shelves generally have sliding capability, that is, they are horizontally slidable within the oven cavity for ease of placement or removal of the food being cooked, which is normally contained in containers such as baking trays, pans, glass trays, etc.
Systems are also known to the art that couple the sliding of the shelf to the opening of the oven door. In other words, the shelves move horizontally outwardly from the oven cavity when the door is opened, and return to their original position within the oven cavity when the door is again closed.